Title: Buried Deep

Author: Dawn A. Brown (DiagnosMur@aol.com)

All Disclaimers Apply

"Hey, Mark, how are you today?" Dr. Jesse Travis greeted his fellow co-worker as he entered the doctor’s lounge at Community General Hospital. Jesse was basically speaking to the back of Mark’s head. Dr. Sloan seemed to be lost in whatever he was reading and didn’t acknowledge Jesse’s entrance into the room.

"Hello…Mark…Are you paying any attention?" Dr. Sloan still didn’t turn to talk to the young doctor talking to him. Realizing that Mark was so engulfed in what he was looking at, Jesse decided he’d test the limit on whatever it took to get Mark to see he existed. "Earth to Mark Sloan," Jesse said, "Aliens are invading the planet and are after you. If you don’t leave that chair within two seconds they will come and suck your brains out. Trust me, I know!"

"That’s nice," Mark responded. Jesse put the palm of his hand against head and rolled his eyes. What on earth was going on in Mark’s mind?!?!? Since this was beginning to worry him he walked over and placed a hand on Mark’s shoulder as he sat down in a chair next to Dr. Sloan. Mark sort of jumped. "Oh, hi Jesse, when did you walk in?"

"Let’s see…I came in and said hi and asked how you are, then I approached you asking if you were paying attention, and lastly, I said aliens were going to suck your brains out…I’d say that I have been here for at least ten minutes now," Jesse finished his run down of events, "So, what gives?"

Mark’s eyes widened as soon as Jesse finished his statement. "You’ve been trying to talk to me this whole time, and even got through the aliens without me noticing? I’m sorry, Jess!

"Well, what gives is the serial killer, Jimmy Varnes, that was on trial is getting off, because of one flaw in Steve’s testimony. Steve is devastated and I felt bad leaving him at home alone today. I don’t know what happened, but some key evidence turned up missing, and there is video of the scene where he put it in his pocket, but it never made it to the evidence room, and video isn’t enough to convict someone. Also, this news is on the front page of every paper throughout the nation, with Steve’s face gracing it, too."

Jesse grabbed the newspaper from Mark and began to read the article. Meanwhile, Steve entered the lounge without saying a word. Once Jesse finished the article, he looked straight at Mark and attempted to lighten up the situation.

"Wow! My best friend is famous. He is on the front of USA Today and a whole bunch of other newspapers across the country." A cough came from behind Jesse and he turned around to see Steve standing there. Dr. Travis quickly looked at Mark who was giving him the "I-can’t-believe-you-just-said-that" look. "Sorry guys, I was just joking. Steve…I…I didn’t…"

Steve quickly cut him off, "Jess, I know you didn’t mean anything and were trying to brighten up the situation." He tried to give a little bit of a smile to let Jesse know that he forgave him and gave a small pat on the back to let him know things were definitely alright between them.

"Hi, son, how are you holding up and why aren’t you at work?"

"Well, dad, I’m doing alright. Not much going on right now, just going on break for a few days."

"You weren’t scheduled to have these days off, Steve, and it is unlike you, no matter what, to take time off. What’s wrong?"

"You didn’t let me get to the best part. My so-called "break" is actually a suspension from the department since I am now being investigated for internal crimes at the precinct since the evidence turned up missing and I was the last person that they can prove had it."

Jesse looked at Steve in amazement. "Steve, you’re one of the best out there. There is something terribly wrong when they are accusing you of crimes."

"Steve, what else are they planning on doing?"

"I don’t know, but the department is the least of my concerns right now. That serial killer is back out on the streets and I’m sure he’s on the prowl for new victims. I’m off the case now, so I can’t get new evidence that will be permissible. My greatest concern is that he’ll come after one of you guys or Amanda."

Mark looked at his son, "That’s just plain silly, Steve. Why would he do that? I know that you’re worried that he’ll want to get you back, but since he got off free there’s no reason for him to want to get back at you for any of it. Trust me, Steve, you’re paranoid and really need to focus on the department."

Steve sort of shrugged as Jesse stood up. Jess continued to go along with what Mark was saying. "I have to agree with your dad, Steve, the guy would be stupid to come after any of us! You’re a cop…"

Steve quickly cut him off, "Was a cop."

"You still are Steve, so quit talking as if you died. They’re just being stupid and hard-headed," Jesse said. "See, I know stuff about cops being hard-headed, because the one with the hardest head is standing in front of me right now."

Mark smiled at Jesse’s remark. Steve shook his head and rolled his blue eyes at Jesse’s remark. "Jess, this is the only time you’ll hear me say this, but, I guess you’re right." A big smile graced Jesse’s face. "Well, I need to go pick up a few personal items at the office since I won’t be going in for a while. Dad, I’ll see you tonight, okay?"

"Okay, son," Mark replied, "and don’t worry, this all will pass and you’ll be back out there being as hard-headed as ever soon enough."

* * *

Mark approached the dark beach house, which was apparently empty. He grabbed the mail as he walked in and shuffled through it while kicking the door closed with his left foot and turned on the light. "Junk, junk, bill, letter from ol’ Jim, junk, bill, for Steve," he mumbled to himself. As he went to lay the mail on the coffee table, he saw a note laying there. It read:

Mark finished reading the note and laid it back down on the table. He then proceeded to the kitchen so he could grab a quick bit to eat. As he rummaged through the cabinets, he heard the door open then close. "Steve? You there? Good timing, you’re just in time for dinner," Mark said loudly, then quietly he said, "Steve and Jesse are the only two people I know that manage to always show up when food is being brought out." His voice picked up as he started back towards the dining room, "Steve, where have you…"
A man dressed all in black grabbed Dr. Sloan from the backside. Everything in Mark’s arms fell to the floor as the man placed a gun against Mark’s head. "Dr. Sloan, nice to meet you."

"Who are you, what do you want," Mark asked with a little bit of hesitation in his voice.

"That’s right, your son never introduced the two of us. My name is James, James Varnes. You probably know me as Jimmy Varnes, the guy that your son let go free." Terror became apparent in Mark’s eyes. "I know that he has been snooping around trying to find more evidence against me, and I came up with this brilliant idea to stop him."

"What’s your brilliant idea?" Mark asked as he began to struggle to get away from him.

"I’m going to kill you. My brains have given me a wonderful idea. It’ll be a slow, yet creative death, that will lead your son on the chase of his life-and yours."

Mark looked at the mans face, but it had a black ski mask over and all he could see was the man’s dark green eyes and the smirk he had. Mark began struggling again and the two stumbled across the room. "Well, Dr. Sloan, you sure are a feisty one. I guess we’ll have to take care of that." Mr. Varnes took his gun and smack Mark in the side of the head with it. Mark fell to the floor quickly with blood streaming from his head.

* * *

Police swarmed the beach house inside and outside. Steve sat on the sand running his hands through his hair. Amanda and Jesse pulled up and saw all of the flashing lights around. They exited and ran over to Steve.

"Steve, are you alright?" Amanda asked with concern.

"It’s a mess in there. I have no clue what could have happened."

Jesse joined into the conversation, "What do you mean by a mess? A mess of cops?"

"Jess, I mean a mess, as in, food dropped on the floor, some stuff knocked over, and blood all over the floor."

"Blood!" Amanda exclaimed, "Do you know if it’s Mark’s?"

"Don’t know yet. They won’t let me in there now. My father is missing and I can’t do one dang thing to help!" Amanda kneeled down and placed her hand on Steve’s back. Jesse stood over his friends making sure that no one would come over and do anything to hurt them. He broke the bit of silence.

"Steve, anytime anything has happened to any one of us you’ve been there and you’ve pushed breaking the rules. You’ve never let anything stand in your way. You don’t have your badge now, and you’ve given it up before, but that didn’t prevent you finding a way around it."

Steve looked up at Jesse. Thoughts filled his head about everything that could have possibly happened, and other thoughts of the numerous time things have happened filled his head. "I guess I better get up and get started, because there’s a lot to be done, and I’m not sure how much time there is to do it."

* * *

Everything was pitch black. Mark’s eyes were slowly opening, but all he could see was darkness. His head hurt worse than it ever had before. The doctor felt around him since nothing could be seen. As he felt to the right he grabbed hold of a flashlight. After switching it on he looked around him. Everything was still somewhat fuzzy, but he could see that he was inside a box that was about 4x8x2 feet in size. He had no clue where he was at. He shined his flashlight over to where his head had been laying. A pool of blood was there. He placed his hand where he had been hit with the gun and found it to still be bleeding. Since there was nothing he could do about that he continued shining the light at places around the box. To his left were a note, notebook, and a pen. He began reading the note to himself.

Mark leaned his aching head back. His head became filled with thoughts and voices of his son and his friends. Suddenly he was jolted back to reality and shined the flashlight onto his watch to see what time it was. It read 4:00, but he wasn’t quite sure if it was a.m. or p.m. He guessed it to be a.m. correctly, and estimated that he had approximately 40 hours of oxygen left. Mark lay there and eventually fell back asleep.

* * *

Amanda awoke to see Steve still awake. Her watch said it was 4:15. Amanda, Jesse, and Steve all were camped out at her house. "Steve, why are you up? It’s 4:15 in the morning," Amanda sat up groggily.

"I told everyone that this would happen. I know that it’s Jimmy Varnes, and every cop in the department is looking down on me, so they don’t want to help out. They all think I sabotaged stuff on purpose and I have this feeling that they think that I did something to my own father."

"Why do you feel they think that, Steve?" Amanda interrogated.

"I was attempting to speak with some of the officers and they gave me a cold shoulder. Eventually, I just walked around trying to find out whatever I could, and I overheard them saying, ‘I bet Sloan did it because his father figured his crime out,’ and they all looked at me funny. They’re not going to make this case a priority and the Varnes will make my dad the next victim to his serial killings!" Steve’s voice continued rising throughout his small speech.

Jesse woke up. "What is the riot all about in here?"

"Jesse, the department isn’t going to do anything about my dad’s disappearance is the problem!"

"Sorry that I bothered asking," Jess fell back down where he had been sleeping. The room became filled with an awkward silence. Jess stared at the ceiling, Amanda sat looking at Steve, and Steve looked out the window with his eyes glazed over. The doorbell rang.

"Who could it possibly be at 4:30 in the morning!?!?" Amanda said with frustration in her voice. She approached the door and looked through the peephole. No one was standing there. Cautiously she opened it and peered out. All that she found was a letter taped to the door addressed to Steve. "Steve…come here…now!"

Steve walked over to where his friend stood. "What is it, Amanda?"

"Someone taped a letter to the door addressed to ‘Former LAPD detective Steve Sloan.’" Jesse shot up from where he lay faster than a bullet and ran over to where Amanda and Steve stood. Steve carefully opened the letter and read through it to himself.

Jesse watched Steve’s eyes, "Come on Steve, what does it say?"

"This can’t be, there is no way."

"What is it Steve?"

Steve began to read the letter:

All three of them looked at one another in terror. Amanda and Jesse had no clue how to help Steve, and Steve was wondering what he had done to his father.

"I don’t know what to do. My dad is buried underneath the earth’s surface, most likely somewhere here in California, but I have no clue, so I can’t help him."

"He must be so scared right now," Amanda said. For the first time ever, Jesse gave Amanda the "I-Can’t-Believe-You-Just-Said-That" look, instead of her giving it to him.

"Mark? Scared? Come on you two. Both of you are getting so caught up in this you’re forgetting who Mark even is. He’s probably looking at this as a new adventure and probably is figuring some way to get out of it. Mark’s never the one that has been scared. Anytime that we’re scared, he calms our fears. Everything will work out and we’ll all find each other and Varnes will be locked up."

Amanda looked at Jesse and managed to put a little smile on her face, but hostility shone through on Steve’s face as he got closer to Jesse.

"Well, Dr. Know-It-All Travis, I’m glad you seem to think you know my dad so well. I guess you’ve been his son for more than 45 years," Steve violently said to Jesse. Suddenly Steve grabbed Jesse’s shirt and shoved him against the wall, "He’s my father and he is missing. I don’t appreciate how you think that you know everything about his feelings and actions. Who knows where he’s at? He could already be dead right now. You hear me, Jesse? Dead!" Steve let go of Jesse’s shirt and backed himself against the wall, sinking to the floor. Amanda shook her head.

"I’m sorry, Steve, I didn’t mean to seem that I know your father better than you. The thing is, you and he have been through a lot together already, and he’s a survivor, and I truly believe we’ll find him."

Steve looked at Jesse, "Look, Jess, there’s no need for you to be sorry. I shouldn’t have blown up at you like that. You didn’t do anything except be here for me, and I guess I’m just afraid that he is already gone."

"Well, boys, I guess that settles it. As soon as we all get some sleep, we’ll get up later and start our search for answers and try to find Mark. Is that a deal?"

"Deal, Amanda," Steve said.

"Deal," Jesse followed.

All three immediately lied back down and tried to get some sleep.

* * *

Mark managed to position himself on his stomach in the tight area he was in. He pulled the notebook and the pen that had been left over to him. Many thoughts passed through his head of the life he had built up to this point and how wonderful it had been, especially with having such a wonderful son. Also, confusion went through his head of how he would die in the box. As he took the pen in his hand and with the flashlight positioned to shine light onto the notebook, he began to write what his last letter was to be to his son.

Mark sat and reflected on that time and compared it in his mind with what he was feeling at the present moment. He thought about whether he should share his fears or bring forth his usual bright personality.

Mark read through the letter he had written to his son thoughtfully. The thought that he may never see his son again passed through his head over and over again. It seemed as only yesterday Steve had been a little baby and he had held him in his arms. All Mark could do was pray that Steve hadn’t been hurt during all of this and that there would be some chance that someone would find out that he had been buried in that box. While letting the thought sink into his mind, he fell asleep.

* * *

"Jesse?" Amanda asked, "You’re where?!?!?" Steve stared at Amanda as she spoke on the phone with Jesse wondering what they were talking about. Amanda hung up the phone.

"Amanda, what’s wrong?"

"Uh, Steve, we have a little problem with Jess."

"And exactly how ‘little’ is this little problem?"

"We need to go bail him out of jail."

"What!"

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

"You know how he wasn’t here earlier this afternoon when we first woke up, and how it’s now turning five o’clock, and we still haven’t seen him?"

"Yes, Amanda, I do," Steve’s voice getting somewhat impatient.

"He went to the beach house when he thought that all of the cops were gone. Jesse was going to try to find some clue as to what all happened and where Varnes could have taken your dad. He was just trying to help."

"Jesse is always just trying to help. At least now we can do a little investigating on our own, and let him find out what it is like to be in jail for any amount of time, especially since you, me, and my father all know."

Amanda managed a little smile. "Come on, we can use my car and do our own tracking down of your father."

"Let’s go."

The two exited the home of Amanda Bentley. Amanda turned around and double-checked to make sure the door was locked They approached the car and beneath one of the windshield wipers lay another note.

"Here we go again," Steve said. He picked up the note and began reading it out loud. "I decided since there is no way for you to find out where your dad possibly is, that I’d leave a hint. You’re dad has been buried in one of the state parks here in beautiful sunny California. Good luck hunting him down in time. You’re approaching half of the oxygen he has being gone."

"Steve, we have to get to work…fast."

"First, make photocopies of the notes, so we have something to look at and investigate. After you make the copies, which I know you can, since you copy everything, we’ll go down to the police station and talk to some of the cops there and hand over the notes. Once they tell us that they can’t help, we’ll get Jess out of the slammer, and go find my dad on our own. You ready to make the copies?"

Answering Steve, Amanda stole his line by saying, "I’m on it!"

* * *

Jesse stared out between the bars of the cell that he was stuck in with a cross-dresser and a suspected murderer. He couldn’t believe the situation he had gotten himself into this time.

"Jess, are you alright?" a familiar voice called out to him. Amanda rushed over to see her friend. Steve trailed behind trying not to laugh at the sight of Jesse stuck in jail with a cross-dresser.

"Thank God that you guys are here! I’m fine, Amanda. I am so glad to see you, Amanda, and I guess I’m glad to see you, Steve," he said, Steve still almost laughing. "How long have I been in here? It seems like an eternity!"

Steve looked at his watch on his right wrist. "Jesse, it’s only nine-thirty," he slyly grinned as he spoke to his friend. A cop let Jesse out of the cell as they were talking.

"You mean, you’ve let me sit in this nasty place with a cross-dresser for five hours! Some friend you are!" Amanda watched the two as they made fun of one another like two brothers battling it out.

"Come on, let’s go somewhere and work on the details."

* * *

Mark woke up from his sleep. He couldn’t believe that he had slept so long in the tiny box. Mark didn’t know what to do. The hours were slipping away. He felt as though his body was deteriorating since he hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink in many hours. Slowly he grabbed the flashlight and shined it on his watch to see exactly how much time he had left. Twenty hours were left. Twenty critical hours until he would run out of oxygen. What would happen now?

* * *

Steve slowly awakened from his deep sleep. "What time is it?"

A female’s voice answered back, "It’s eleven thirty in the morning."

"Eleven thirty! I’ve got to get to work!"

"Hold it, Steve," Jesse said, "All three of us need to put what we know together to even have a chance of figuring out where Mark’s at."

"I guess you’re right," Steve yawned, "Where’s the copies of the notes that you made, Amanda?"

"I put them out in the car, sorry," she answered.

"I’ll go out and get them," Steve said. He opened the door and yet another note addressed to ‘Former Detective Sloan’ was taped to it. "Guess what guys, new note on the door."

"What does it say?" Jesse questioned.

"Ha, ha, there was one little detail that I forgot to mention. I began the 48 hours of oxygen 6 ½ hours before your father was put into the little box. I guess that means that you have a little over two hours to find your father before he runs out of air. I guess you won’t make it, and he’ll be towering above earth from his new home in the sky," Steve looked back and forth between Jesse and Amanda, "Amanda, any maps of state parks that you can dig up, get them here immediately. Jesse look through the other info we have and something is bound to be found."

While Jesse and Amanda searched for clues, Steve took some time for himself. He took his wallet out of his pocket and looked at a picture of he and his father that had been taken six months earlier. His father had wanted the pictures taken for his Christmas cards for the upcoming season. It was hard to think that this may be the last picture of his father that he would ever have.

"Steve," Amanda was attempting to wake him from his daydream that had lasted half an hour, "Steve? I have the maps."

His head shook as he snapped out of his long gaze. "Okay, let’s get to work."

* * *

"Steve, I don’t get it," Jesse said, "We have all of this information and maps, and just about any type of evidence a person could ask for, but none of this is helping. There’s nothing to get from this."

"Yes there is! There has to be!" Steve insisted. His face was turning red and stress was very apparent.

"Guys, I may have something," Amanda said.

"What is it?" Jesse asked.

"No promises, but this is talking about Mark ‘towering’ over the earth when he gets to heaven."

Steve cut her off, "And what does that mean, Amanda?"

"Well, if you’d let me finish, it means, that the guy may have buried him at Watts Towers State Historic Park. You know, the park that has all those old towers, where one other killing by Varnes has taken place."

"Amanda, you’re a genius. If there’s a chance for me to get there in time because of the traffic and how far it is, I better leave now. Can I use your car?"

"Of course you can, Steve."

Steve grabbed his jacket and sprinted towards the door. "Steve, can I go with you?" Jesse asked.

Steve was in a hurry, very flustered, and very afraid. "Do you ever quit pestering people, Jess? Why do you always butt in at the last minute in situations that don’t even involve you! Dangit, he’s my dad, and I need to go find him!"

Steve began to close the door and Jesse shouted at him. "Steve, I do have something to do with it! He’s one of my friends! Heck, he’s the closest thing to a father that I’ve ever had, and you’re my best friend, so I can’t possibly let you go alone!"

Steve stopped dead in his tracks. His face softened and he opened the door back up to look in at Jesse. "Come on, Jess."

Both of them ran off and proceeded to head toward Watts Towers.

* * *

Mark lay in the dark cold box. The oxygen ran out and he hadn’t realized it yet. He moved his head slowly trying to see through the black that surrounded him. Mark couldn’t feel most of his body and the parts that he could feel ached more than they ever had before. Soon his eyes closed, hoped by Varnes not to wake again.

* * *

"Okay, Jesse, grab the crowbar and the shovels out of the back of the car."

"I’ve got them, Steve."

"Now, where to start."

Time had already run out. With all of the traffic that they had to go through to get to the park it was about half an hour past the time when the oxygen was supposed to have run out.

"Steve, how about you take that half and I’ll take this half."

"Alright, Jess, look for any freshly dug up dirt." The two parted ways and began their search. It was large so it would be hard to cover everything, so they hoped that they would be lucky and find some clue soon.

* * *

"Steve," Jesse yelled frantically and loudly, "Steve, get over here now!" Jesse shoved his shovel into the ground and began to dig.

"What is it, Jess? Oh, my!" Steve jumped right in and both of them quickly shoveled the dirt aside.

"I’m hitting something, Steve, I think it’s a box!"

"Hurry, we don’t have time to waste."

The two kept digging and digging. Finally they were down to where they were using their hands to scoop dirt off of the box in the ground. "Where’s the crowbar, Jess?"

"Here, Steve," he said back anxiously awaiting for Steve to open the oversized coffin. With all of Steve’s strength he worked fast to pop the top open. Finally he got the last part loosened and he and Jesse lifted the top off. There lay Mark lifeless.

"Dad!" Steve yelled.

"Come on Steve," Jesse said, "Help me get him out of there so I can give him some medical attention." They lifted his body out, and Jesse checked his vital signs. "No pulse, I’m going to have to perform CPR. Steve, get emergency vehicles here, now!"

Steve quickly pulled out his cell phone as he watched Jesse trying to revive his father. "Yes, we need an ambulance to Watts Towers…Dr. Mark Sloan…This is his son Lieutenant Steve Sloan…He was buried alive…Look, get help here now! I have to go."

Steve ran his hands through his hair while watching Jesse do all he could to save his father. He felt useless and scared. There was nothing he could do. Suddenly Mark began gasping for air.

"Mark!"

"Dad!" Steve went to his father and placed his head in his lap. Mark acted as though he needed to throw up, but since he hadn’t eaten anything he had nothing to get rid of. He kept taking in the air though. Jesse smiled at Steve and he returned the smile, both holding back tears of joy, fear, and uncertainty. Mark began to try to speak.

"St…" he trailed off and just stared at his son.

"Don’t talk now, everything is going to be just fine now. An ambulance is on its way and you’ll be back at home in Community General before you know it," Steve turned his attention to Jesse, "Jesse, you alright?"

"I’m just fine, Steve, well, at least now I am," he said.

"Could you look in there and see if anything else ended up in that little coffin?"

"Sure, Steve," Jess got down into it, "There’s a notebook with a letter addressed to you in it, but nothing else." Just then the emergency vehicles pulled up to take Mark to the hospital, and with all of the raucous, Steve didn’t bother reading the letter at that time.

* * *

Mark was stretched out on the couch in the beach house with a quilt laying over him. He was flipping through the pages of the newspaper in front of him. He sipped from his glass of tea while he looked at it. Every so often he turned and fluffed the pillow that he was leaning against. Jesse entered into the house without knocking.

"Mark!" Jesse exclaimed as he walked up behind his pal. Dr. Sloan dropped his paper and sort of jumped because it startled him.

"Jesse, you startled me."

"I’m sorry, Mark, I didn’t mean to…I forgot to knock. You know me, Mr. Forgetful. I’m sorry."

"It’s okay, Jess."

"So, how does it feel to be back here at home?"

"I guess in some ways it’s good and other ways, it is somewhat bittersweet. It feels wonderful to be out of that box, and to be able to see all of my friends again," Jesse smiled at Mark when he said this, "But, it is bittersweet in the fact that it all began here that night, and I haven’t seen Steve for more than five minutes at a time since you two found me."

"I’m sure that he has a perfectly logical explanation for it, Mark," Amanda said as she emerged from the kitchen with a fresh cup of tea for Mark.

"Amanda, how long have you been here?" Jesse asked.

"I’m the one that brought Mark home. Steve had to appear in court one more time and this time Varnes is going to be put away for good," Amanda answered back, rolling her eyes when talking about Steve. "I’m going back to do some more cleaning in the kitchen."

"Talk to you later, Amanda," Jesse said as she walked off. Mark was looking down at the paper with a far-away gaze. "Mark, you just need to wait for Steve to get over feeling guilty. That is the only reason that he has distanced himself. Just understand the position that he feels he is in."

"I know, Jess, I know," Mark answered. At that moment, the front door opened and Steve walked in. He was dressed in a gray suit and loosened his tie as he entered.

"Hi, Jesse," he said, not seeing his father on the sofa. He walked in a little further before seeing him, "Oh, dad, didn’t see you there. Hi."

"Hello, son."

"Hey, Steve!"

"Well, I guess I should be on my way. I have so much to do and so little time. See ya!"

"Bye, Steve," Mark said, and began reading his paper again.

Steve began walking off. Jesse looked back and forth between Mark and Steve. Jesse stood up and ran over to Steve as he walked out the front door. The two stood together on the deck. "Steve, why are you doing this to Mark?"

"I’m not doing anything. I’m not going to risk his life again like I already have."

"You said last night when I talked to you that you were going to hang around here with him today with your father."

"You weren’t in court today listening to Varnes accuse you of everything that happened. That’s what I’ve been listening to all day. Then, they read that letter you found that I never read. My dad was afraid that he was going to die. He was afraid and there had been nothing that I could do to help."

"Look, Steve, he’s alive, and he needs you right now. He really wants to talk to you, but you’re not showing much interest in talking to him. Please at least sit down and chat a little with him. Just give it a shot. He’s not going to blame you for anything."

"Jesse, you amaze me at times. Sometimes you remind me of a little kid, but other times you seem so adult-like. I hate it when you actually make some sense!" Steve smiled at Jesse then went back into the house.

"Dad?" Steve asked, "Can I talk to you?"

"Why of course you may. Is something wrong?"

"I was just thinking that we haven’t spoken much since you’ve gotten out of the hospital, and that maybe you’d like to."

"You look nice in that suit. Where did you get that tie, Steve?"

"You gave it to me last Christmas, dad."

"Oh, well, I thought it looked familiar and of very good taste I might add. You haven’t dressed up in such a long time that I didn’t even recognize it."

"So…" Steve said and the room became silent.

"How did court go today, Steve?"

"Jimmy Varnes has been sentenced to two consecutive life sentences charged with murdering at least twenty-five people and for attempted murder of one. Also, there are ten murders that may possibly be linked back to him, so he could possibly wind up back in court. There’s talk around the station about fraud charges possibly being brought against him."

"I take it that things went fairly smoothly then?"

"Yeah. The jury was only out for about half an hour deliberating then came back in and was ready to convict him."

"At least he’s off the streets now," Mark gave a little smile to his son. "Steve?"

"What dad?"

"Go ahead and say it."

"Say what?"

"What I always tell you when I’m right."

Steve scrunched up his head in confusion, "Dad, sorry to tell you, but I have no clue what you are talking about."

"Say ‘I told you so,’" Mark said to his son. The smile he had across his faces still appeared there getting a little wider each second.

"Now why would I want to say that?"

"Because you warned everyone that you were afraid something bad would happen, and you were right. I ended up underneath the earth’s surface for a couple of days while you, Jesse, and Amanda tried to figure out where I was."

"I guess you have a point," Steve replied with a slight grin on his face, "but I’ll let you by this first time. Next time I’ll say it." His sentence was followed by a long pause before going on. "Look dad, I’m sorry that I haven’t been around a lot since you’ve come back home and I’m sorry that you got involved in this whole mess."

"Steve, this is almost a part of our lives now. If it’s not me in some sort of trouble, it’s you, Amanda, or Jesse. You can’t blame yourself for everything," Mark smiled at his son, "Now, can we get off of this subject?"

Just then Jesse walked over and plopped himself down on the couch by Mark’s feet. He had the biggest grin on his face. Amanda came out from the kitchen with some more glasses and a big pitcher of tea while Steve loosened his tie.

"Jesse, what are you so happy about?" Amanda asked.

"Oh, I just got the phone numbers of two of the hottest sisters on this beach. They want to go out sometime. I’m keeping Bambi’s number."

"Bambi’s?" Steve asked trying to hold back laughter.

"Yes, Bambi," Jesse said with some seriousness in his voice, "But, the beauty of it all is that I got Candi’s number for you."

"Did you really, Jess? You are unbelievable! She is…" Steve then noticed the looks that everyone in the room was giving to him. "She is a very nice girl."

"I’m sure that’s what you were meaning to say, son," Mark butted in while Steve turned red in the face.

"Oh, Mark," Jesse started, "I would have gotten you their mother’s number, but I doubt you would want to go out on a double date with your son. I just thought it would be sort of common courtesy."

"That’s really okay, Jesse. I think I’ll live without going out with their mother, whatever her name might be." Everyone was laughing. "Well, now that we all have tea, I would like to propose a toast to the best friends, and son, anyone could ever have, especially for all of the help out of this mess."

"Here, here," they all replied in unison.

After one sip, they all were spitting the tea out of their mouths everywhere. "What is this stuff?" Steve asked.

"Amanda! Did you make this yourself?" Jesse joked, "This is worse than anything I’ve ever made."
"You guys, I don’t know what happened. I’ll go back and make some more…"

"No," all three of the males protested in unison.

"You know Amanda," Mark said, "I think I’m feeling well enough to make the tea myself."

"Mark, you should rest," Amanda replied.

"NO! Let him make the tea. He insists, don’t you Mark?" Jesse pleaded.

"I’m going now to make it." The quartet spent the rest of the day enjoying sitting around the house and being around each other, a nice break from the events that had occurred during the past week.